【Make a “Play Park” at National childrenʼs center in Chiba】

Make a “Play Park” at National childrenʼs center in Chiba

2020/8/28 Kaoru Nishimura

[The first impression of the play park]

As a student of the Faculty of Education, I wanted to participate in a project called “Play Park”, a place where children can play freely. For the project, my team chose National childrenʼs center in Chiba.
The play park was built on a slope in the forest next to the barbecue square in the National childrenʼs center. The surface of the slope was flat, as there
were no more trees. It seemed to be the perfect place for children to play.
This project allowed me to discover much more than the fact that I could learn from childrenʼs playing.
Above all, it was great to learn and hear the opinions and stories of people outside my field.

In the morning, my first job was painting long wooden boards.
At that time, I heard a very impressive voice saying "I'll entrust everything about this work, so please discuss it yourself and do it all. But instead of that, I'm going to point out at the end." That was the voice of Mr.Tayagura. He is a craftsman who pour his all efforts into developing youth.
His voice made us realize the importance of acting without instructions and doing things voluntarily. At the same time, I could feel the kindness implying "I'm taking care of you" coupled with his usual “kind” scolding.
When adults tell children to do all by themselves, the children tend to seek the correct answer and often they are afraid of making mistakes. They
think ahead of what the adults are thinking and what the adults are expected to do, and in the end children will adjust to the standard that the adults set. This is the tendency Japanese children seem to have, which they have develop from a unique Japanese education, as demonstrated in a book I read before.

However, Mr. Tayagura's words did not promote that. He sounded like "I will teach you at the end, so you can make a mistake many times."Mr.Tayagura encouraged the children, allowed them to make mistakes, and supported them in this way. This is the attitude that adults should have towards children, this voice is quite important in education, in my opinion.

[Great experience of children from play park]

When we were painting, the children were interested in that work and participated. It was their first experience painting on such a big wooden board, so their faces were serious. Since it was the first time they met, they couldnʼt talk to each other at first. So they were a bit quiet but after 10 minutes they started to be excited talking about their favorite games. This is the power of children. Unlike me, children didnʼt need to know each otherʼs names to get along with. 

They could be friends immediately. I think they didn't know their names even at the end.Every child called each other “Hey you!!” until the end. The children taught me that "name" is not that important.
The children were always curious about what the adults were doing. They had lots of energy to challenge themselves, and we wanted to give them opportunities to do so.
That is what we wanted to provide in play park.

After that, every child was curious to help with the work of painting on the pond wall.
The craftsman said, “This work would have been a tough task if there were no children,” and the children did it with glittering faces, I realized how
exciting it was for the children.
There I was wondering at what point in life children stop having this excitement and curiosity about new things and start questioning everything.

Like in this picture, the craftsmen allowed the children to use a large machine, which they normally cannot touch. Normally, adults would say “Itʼs dangerous. Donʼt do that”. But the craftsmen were just watching carefully and caringly. The boy (in the picture) continued to do a lot of hard work for quite a long time, and kept on saying "It's fun!" I think this is exactly what Play Park is aiming for.
[My discovery from lunch time]
After finishing some work, it was lunch time.
A famous chef in the local area organized a barbecue including vegetables from a famous local farmer.
We sat on the grass and had lunch in the best weather.
We were on top of the world!!!!

That day, we were making a promotional video for the barbecue square. Itʼs going to be a place where anyone can use anytime. So, we invited local farmers and local chefs.
A local farmer Mr. Sakamaki, told an interesting story.
He said "This world is made by humans, who are made of food. In other words, the world is made of food."Mr. Sakamaki said that he doesnʼt use pesticides, or fertilizers or limes to grow his vegetables. He just relies on the power of nature. Therefore, the vegetables grow really late, and they are very small. However, they are really nutritious. Mr. Sakamaki's vegetables were the sweetest that I have ever eaten, and I felt it gave me lots of energy.
Todayʼs agriculture looks like factories: lots of fertilizers are used in order to increase production and to make large, fine, and better-looking vegetables. Mr. Sakamaki dislikes that, and grows vegetables with great love for the food “that makes the world and the people”.
He also said that people tend to think that drinking protein drinks helps them build muscles. It may be true, but the muscles do not get strong by themselves. These muscles are just ornaments without the adequate nutrition.

I thought this story has something to do with education. Like the vegetables, if children are given too many artificial things, they will lose their original strength. They, too, need natural nutrition to be able to genuinely grow up. The growth process may be slow, but it is worth it, as they grow with the help of their own power.
Like Mr. Sakamaki, I am aiming for a fertilizer- free, lime-free, and pesticide-free education. And I would appreciate if adults gave children
more freedom and allowed them to walk their own way from time to time.
"Pesticide-free education"
I think this might be quite interesting. Children cannot grow strong if we remove the harmful insects(difficulty or mission).
I want children to grow up by their ability and overcome every difficulties.

[My impression from this experience]

After lunch, the children who had become friends picked insects and made a house from some pieces of wood. It was one of the important games in which they developed creativity and a sense of balance. In addition, their collaboration greatly contributed to the development of social and communication skills.
I was able to talk to many people throughout the day, and my insight expanded considerably.
When I was talking about education, a craftsman told me that I can change Japanese education from
the outside. I'm interested in studying the differences between children in other countries and Japanese children, and I'm thinking of going abroad to meet children from all over the world to find some hints to change Japanese education. I thought that was exactly what I was aiming for.
The abstract image and ideal were beautifully verbalized by this phrase, "changing Japan from the outside", which made things clearer and more organized in my mind.

Everyone in that place had a broad view of the world, the scale of the stories they talked about was pretty large, and all that stimulated my dreams.
At the beginning of the day, Mr. Tayagura said, “I want to show the children a wonderful world in our back. And I want to give big dreams to the children.” I felt that he really has the power to realize that.
All the adults there were "dreaming" about their dreams, looking at the big world.
“Dreaming” is suitable word for the adults. This is also an adult that should be. A person who just “speak” a dream are boring. I also want to be a person who imagine a big world and smolder childrenʼs dream.
Even it was only one day, I learned many things and gained many new perspectives.
I noticed that it was important not only to make Play Park for having fun but also for learning to concentrate. Until then, I thought smiling faces and glittering faces are evidences of playing fun. But from this experience, I learned that both fun and seriousness are quite significant elements when children are playing and learning. Therefore, in creating a place for children to play, it is not enough to think about only having fun. I realized that if I could observe how seriously and passionately they play, integrating deep thinking, creativity, and confidence, I would make the best play park. I want them to have fun, but also, more importantly, to learn from playing.
I am thankful for the valuable experience I got from the project. I would like to share such an amazing experience with the people in my field.